


13x19 Coda

by Piper_Halliwell1979



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Coda, Comforting Dean Winchester, Drunk Castiel, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, M/M, Passing Out, Past Abuse, Prayer, Season/Series 13, Sharing a Bed, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 04:00:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14393838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Piper_Halliwell1979/pseuds/Piper_Halliwell1979
Summary: What happened when Dean and Cas reveal what happened while they were apart and how to deal with it.





	13x19 Coda

When Sam and Dean got back to the bunker, they found Cas sitting alone in the war room, surrounded by empty bottles. He looked pretty rough. Dean descended the stairs and dropped his gear. “Cas...hey, buddy. I take it things didn’t go so hot?”

 

“Ya think?” Cas slurred. He reached for an unfinished bottle but Dean snatched it away. “Hey!” he protested.

 

“Nope. Last call. Why don’t you fill me in? Unless you need to go sleep it off?” Dean sat across from him.

 

Cas looked like he was either near tears or on the edge of crying. Either way his eyes were red and he looked...older. “They’re all gone, Dean. The angels...Heaven is dying. Heaven is dying and I helped kill it.”

 

“Cas...you weeded out some bad apples, okay? You didn’t  _ kill _ heaven.”

 

“I killed so many. Heaven runs on grace. There’s no more grace. The lights are going out. Gates are closed. They want Gabriel and he just...fucked off.” Cas laid his head on his hands on the table.

 

“So we find him and you tell him to flap his happy ass back upstairs. After he gives us a little grace donation.” Dean offered.

 

“He’d have to stay,” Cas grumbled. “He can’t stay. He  _ won’t _ stay.”

 

“Well then stick Lucifer in a cage up there.”

 

“Already up there. Not today but...not enough. Needs more juice.”

 

Dean sat back and crossed his arms. He really didn’t want to say what he had to. “Michael.”

 

Cas startled up enough to get his head dizzy. It was unpleasant, to say the least. “No.”

 

“Come on, Lucifer said Michael went completely bonkers in the cage. Sam was able to take control over Lucifer. Michael would be riding shotgun, I’d be in the driver’s seat. You snag some grace for the spell, then send him upstairs. Then it’s  _ their _ problem. In and out. Easy peasy, right?”

 

“Easy peasy?” Cas squinted at him. “We’re talking about an archangel. Crazy or not...he’s power hungry. And still pissed at Lucifer. It’s too dangerous.”

 

“Well, we’re running out of options, here. You threw your Hail Mary pass. Incomplete. I can get us to the endzone.”

 

Castiel processed the sports metaphor. “I don’t want you to.”

 

“Yeah? I didn’t want you to get dead or get captured or go off to Heaven again but...we do what we gotta I guess.” Dean stared him down. “Just taking one for the team, here.”

 

Cas’ head already starts to hurt, along with his chest. “Don’t want to lose you, too.”

 

Dean leaned forward to touch Cas’ arm. “You ain’t losing me, man. Okay? We got Rowena on the team now. She can call Michael up like she did Lucifer. I get my fairy ‘godreaper’ Jessica to get us down there, we give him the spiel, I say yes...Boom.”

 

“Wait...so Rowena didn’t go...bad?”

 

“More like she went vigilante. She took out some shady folks to get Death’s attention. She just...she just wanted her son back. I mean...I get it. What you’d do for family. We’re doing it. We’ve all pushed the limits and crossed lines. I gotta...I gotta  _ do  _ something. And...I don’t want you to leave. Go be a battery for heaven. I need...I  _ want _ you here. With your real family. With...me.” Dean looked up. He swallowed hard, waiting to see if Cas caught what he meant.

 

“I wasn’t going to go back. I saw... _ she _ was there. Alive. Naomi.”

 

Dean’s stomach lurched. “That fucking...jesus, Cas. It really was her?”

 

Cas nodded. “She had the audacity to...to gloss over what she did to me. It was worse...worse than I ever told you.”

 

Dean stood up and went around to Castiel’s side of the table. He put an arm around Cas’ shoulders. “You wanna tell me now?”

 

“Not really. But you should know. She...she made copies of you. A thousand or more. And she forced me to…” he started to cry, “she forced me to kill you. Over and over. You begging me not to. Begging me to stop. It killed a little piece of me with every copy I killed. She wouldn’t stop. It wouldn’t...stop.” He turned into Dean and wept on his shoulder.

 

“I got you, man. Hey. Just us here. Let it out.” Dean felt Cas shake against him. “Wasn’t real, Cas. Right here. I’m right here.” He knew full well that it didn’t matter if it was real or not. The memories Naomi didn’t scoop out of Cas’ melon were of torture...and murder. Dean moved a hand up to the back of his head, cradling Cas like he used to hold his baby brother when they were kids.

 

Cas was reduced to hiccups. “I wanted to.. to kill her but...heaven is...dying.”

 

“You stood up to her. Looked her in the eye. You won, Cas. You beat her then and you beat her today. So...fuck her.”

 

“I don’t know what to do anymore. I know it’s not my home. It’s not even why I’m upset. All those souls, Dean. If heaven dies they all get cast out. Confused and frightened and walking the earth. I can’t let that happen.”

 

“Then let me do this. For you, for us, for Mom and Jack, for  _ them _ . You know I’m strong enough to hold Michael back. Sammy...all he had in the world was me and Bobby. And that was enough for him. Me? I got a real family to fight for. And I have you. I’ll come back for you.” Dean promised. His lips found their way to Cas’ forehead. He placed a whisper of a kiss there. “I’ll come back because I love you.”

 

No response. Cas had passed out in his arms. Dean rocked him a little before getting a better hold on him to lift. Dean’s back ached but he carried the sleeping angel to his room and laid him down on one side of the bed. He loosened Cas’ tie and slipped it off. He took off Cas’ shoes. Then he got down to just a henley and jeans to lay down beside him.

 

_ Michael? Can you hear me, man? I’m coming to give you a lift, alright? But only on two conditions. One, I need some grace for a spell. And two, I hit the eject button and your ass goes straight up to heaven. No passing GO, no collecting two hundred bucks. Capisce? Alright. Ain’t losing my angel again. So Amen and bite me. See you soon. _


End file.
